Archive for May, 2017

My first hour with Nex Machina was underwhelming. It’s brutal, incessant and requires a frantic finesse that even their prior titles do not. But then it clicked. A replay of the first level for a high score showed the epic beauty of its insanity. This game is not easy, but like any good shmup, which this essentially is, when things fall into place, it is as if time slows. Failing to die is rewarded tenfold and the game became a magestic song of weaving enemies, saving humans, finding hidden exits and destroying everything in sight. I fear the game will be too hardcore for the masses. But for those of us who appreciate this type of game, it’s a gorgeous-looking and finely-tuned masterpiece. I’ll be sad when the beta ends and I actually have to wait for the final release. Bring it on!!!

I’ve been waiting for this moment for six years. I had a session yesterday where everything was clicking. My average of 5 was 34.06. Average of 12 was 35.11. Average of 50 was 37.29. I could just see the entire solve more clearly than ever.

And today was the day. A quick cross. Three corners and three second-layer inserts were so fast. I had the yellow cross and corners permuted. Two lightning fast sune algs and a standard three-cycle to finish off and I knew it was coming. Just didn’t know if I could break 30. Let’s face it… 30.00 wouldn’t have been nearly as good. This was utterly thrilling. And while the record could be broken again, I think the greatest success here is the change in average time. I’ll never get too much faster… Not without F2L. But for now I can officially say I’m under 30 seconds. At 41 yrs old, I’ve been waiting since I was 35 to say that. :) \m/